Theo Book

What did Satan devise to get Christians to accept another gospel than that which Paul preached?

Remember when God warned man [Gen 2:16] "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

Remember what Satan did with the words of God - Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, "Ye shall NOT surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil."

Paul tells us we still have this same circumstance going on in our day. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the {Spirit, which} is the word [rheema] of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;" [Eph 6:12-18]("which") nominative neuter singular] modifies Spirit [Genitive neuter singular], not sword, because "which" in the Greek is a substantival function.

But the author of Hebrews tells us - "For the [logos] word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." [Heb 4:12] So the rheema is the Spirit, but the logos is God [John 1:1] and is sharper than rheema. We come well equipped to join the battle.

With all of this scriptural interaction between God and men for background, how then did Satan get Christians to follow another gospel than Paul preached?

Remember how Satan got Adam and Eve to disobey God in the garden? He changed the logos of God by one word. He added a little "not" to what God said, reversing the meaning of what God actually said.

What can Satan do to get man to ignore what God says, and still think we are being true to God's word? What will Satan do to "reverse the meaning" of God's words, to the children and GrandChildren of Christians who walked and talked with Jesus himself?

Remember, with the death of Jesus and the subsequent resurrection and reassignment of Christ as Lord of the universe, Satan lost the big one. His task became that of getting Christians to believe a different gospel than that which was revealed by the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit inspired Holy men to write letters to saints at different times and in different locations.

While the Holy Spirit inspired writers to address issues that were raised, as they were raised, and to also supply solutions to those issues, he also set in place a chronological pattern of how he wanted them to develope doctrines and traditions so as to sustain the church in the coming years, and centuries.

Satan however, got men to re-arrange the order in which doctrinal issues were to be understood, and completely changed the presentation of the Holy Spirit's endeavor to help men by inspiration. The issue that was destroyed by a false chronology has to do with "first things" or the meaning of "in the beginning." If Satan could get men to believe in a different "beginning" of things, he could change everything that followed into something other than what the Holy Spirit inspired men to write.

One of the first things he did was persuade Christians that to understand Christianity, they had to first understand Christ, and to understand Christ, they must first study the "life of Christ." Now, this makes perfect sense, which is why it should be questioned. It is logical. But Christianity is based upon faith, not logic.

And so with an appeal to men's mental acumen, and sense of logic, Satan established his own aggenda in and through the phenomenon known coloquially as "sunday school.""Certainly there can be nothing wrong with studying the life of Christ first, in order to better understand Christianity," is what appealed to teachers as they settled in to discover "Christianity" through Satan's new and wonderful "learning tool." And, it appealed to the mind of logical men who like to be thought of as "reasonable" and scholarly." By this machination, mathew, Mark, Luke, and John move to the front as new converts begin to study for conversion to Christianity.

So Paul tells us the Rheema is the Holy SPirit of God, and if we engage the Holy Spirit in our effort to correctly challenge evil spirits in Holy warfare we should take caution, i.e., "watching thereunto with all perseverance" which should tell us the Holy Spirit is telling us something to which we should be paying attention.

The "sword of the Spirit" is a spiritual weapon designed both for defense and attack. If we use the reema, AS IT WAS REVEALED, i.,e., if we use God's written account in the order in which it was written, we are using the sword of the spirit. HOWEVER, if we change the order, we still use God's reema, his written word, but the spirit is not there because we have abandoned it and replaced it with our own aggenda and spirit.

And it may even be Satan's spirit we have adapted to our use. It depends upon how hard it is for us to abandon this spirit which is alien to God's word, and return to the sword of the Spirit of God, his word in the order in which it was originally revealed.

Now let us first establish that the above is true. And that is simple. Look in most volumes dealing with an introduction to the New Testament, and they will mostly agree, Mathew was not the first New Testament book written, nor was Mark the second, nor was Luke the third. John was the last book written, not the fourth.

Why is this significant? Because terminology is defined by use, and meaning is established by earlier inspired works, not later, so that those books inspired later would not develope "issues" that resulted only because they were taken out of chronological arrangement.

According to Webster's new International Dictionary, a "person" is a rational, self-conscious being. "Personify" is to attribute human characteristic or nature to inanimate object or abstraction.

An example of "personification" is found in the sixtieth anniversary issue of Life Magazine, page 42, in which is stated "Colonel Charles Lindbergh, who flew solo from the North American continent to Europe, is the American Dream made flesh."

Now, I think it safe to say, we still recognize there is an "American Dream." And that the "American Dream" can still be personalized and personified and lived among men to this day.

In scripture, a person is equivalent to a soul, which is comprised of a spirit in a body. When God breathed into Adam the "breath of life" Adam "became a living soul." [Gen 2:7]

"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."[Gen 2:7]

Seventy "souls" went into Egypt: "all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten." [Gen 46:27]

Seventy "persons" went into Egypt: "Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons;"[Deu 10:22]

Eight "persons" went into the ark: "In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;" [Gen 7:13]

Eight "souls" were saved in the ark; "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was apreparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."[I Pet 3:20]

A logical conclusion from scripture is, "a person" is equivalent to "a soul."

Which brings us to the concept of this essay. Can it be shown anywhere in a chronological arrangement of scripture, that a "person" is ever identified as the logos of God?

Or to put it another way - Was the "Logos" who "became flesh" identified as "Jesus?"

Is the "person" of the Logos of God established in scripture, or is it rather that the logos was "Personified" similar to the example of Colonel Charles Lindbergh, a personification of the American Dream; in which the American Dream, "became flesh."

God established a name which is above every name when he "magnified thy word above all thy name." [Psa 138:2]

God prophesied: "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high." [Isa 52:13]

And God promised His Messiah he would be exalted, and given a name above every name: "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name"[Phil 2:9]

Jesus "receives" the new name when he is given the revelation as to what the "new name" is to be. Clearly, he has this knowledge in Rev 3:12, but it is not yet revealed to mankind in general, nor to the saints specifically, unjtil approximately 69 a.d. when John's Apokolypse was written.

Even in Rev 19:12-13 he does not tell us he has received the new name, only tells us what that name will be when he does receive it.

In 48 A.D., Paul explained to the whole world, a mystery, a concept that was in God's mind, for his people: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." [Gal 2:20]

Six years later, in 54 a.d. Paul wrote - "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you,"

After another six years, in 60 A.D. Paul says he was given a commision to "FULFILL THE LOGOS [WORD] OF GOD," and he then tells us he preached this mystery TO EVERY CREATURE WHICH IS UNDER HEAVEN; whereof I Paul am made a minister;" [Col 1:24]

PAUL SAYS HIS MINISTERY WAS "TO FULFILL THE LOGOS OF GOD:" "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to FULFILL THE LOGOS [WORD] OF GOD; Paul goes on to explain that the word of God was hidden in a mystery, from ages and generations: 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;" [Col 1:25-27]

And Paul In explaining that which was mystery from ages and generations, tells us that this mystery, this "WORD [LOGOS] OF GOD" is "CHRIST LIVING IN YOU," [Gal 2:20] and that this "christ in you") is the hope of glory. "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:" [Col 1:23-28]

So according to Paul, there was a mystery named "logos of God", hidden from ages and from generations, and it consisted of a concept of the saints losing themselves in Christ so thoroughly, it was no longer them living their life, but Christ living in them. When others see this, they will seek God so they also will have this blessed life, and in turn, be a blessing to yet others.

That was the focus and scope of the "word of God" THAT is when "the word" was personified among men. THAT mission, of giving that concept to men, was given to the Apostle Paul.

God had already assigned to this mystery, glory among the gentiles, and assigned it to Paul to spread through preaching: "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;" [Col 1:27]

Not until 69 A.D. was the "word of God" tied to Jesus, in the form of a name given. "The word of God" is NOT who Jesus was. It is a NEW NAME Jesus was GIVEN. And the record of this transaction was not made public until 69 A.D. So it was historically impossible for the New Testament generation of Christians (First century) to have had such an understanding that "Jesus is the word of God."

John, in the Apokolypse, references a "NEW NAME" - "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name." [Rev 3:12]

Notice Three significant things about this "new name:" 1) It is 69 a.d. when John speaks of it as a "New name" -[GRK. onoma kainon] "kainon" is an accusative neuter adjective modifying the noun "onoma," and means "new, not there before, not yet used."

2) Jesus is going to "write his new name" on "Him that overcometh." The significance of this is found in the practice of "branding" possessions, such as cattle, lambs, etc. He is marking his people with a brand of ownership. Just as God is going to write his new name on Jesus [Rev 19:12-13] He is "going to write his new name" on the saints.[Rev 3:12]

3) The events of Rev 19 are yet future (beyond 69 a.d.) as unfilfilled prophecy. So the "New Name" has yet to be given to Jesus. It could not therefore, have been a name applied to Jesus in John's gospel.

Nor could it be a name "from eternity" as it is by definition a "new, unused name." John tells us in 69 a.d. that it is an unknown name, "which NO MAN KNEW but He himself," and that it had not yet been used at the time John wrote of it.

John only reveals what this "new name" is to be, not when it is to be applied: this name Jesus was given which NO MAN KNEW but he HIMSELF - "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God." [Rev 19:11-13]

"THE WORD OF GOD" then, is a name which God raised to a position above his own Holy Name, and now in prophecy, appoints in glory to his son, the "new name" which is "above every name" which is to be written on his people. And THIS is how the first generation of Christians had it presented to their understanding.

And Paul wrote this [61 a.d.] 27 years before John's statement in John 1:1 [96 a.d.], so people already knew that "word of God" is a name above every name, to be given to Jesus at some future time, to remind people of this "mystery made known" in "Christ living in the saints." [The "personification of the logos"]

Remember the issue to be resolved? "Can it be shown anywhere in scripture, that a "person" is ever referenced as the logos of God? It has been shown that there is no "person" ever addressed as being the word of God. It has been demonstrated how the American dream was personified using the same language John used in John 1:14, "The American dream was made flesh" in the person of Colonel Lindbergh. The word of God was made flesh in the persons of the saints as they so lived life that it is no longer they that live, but Christ living in them.

Paul says to "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ IS IN YOU, except ye be reprobates?" [II Cor 13:5]

Jesus is never addressed nor referenced as "the word of God." He is often referenced as "the Lamb of God" and "the Son of God," but never as "the Word of God." THAT is a NEW name he is to be given. AND it is a name he will write on his people. So to say Jesus is the logos of God is misleading, because it is a new, unused name written, both on Jesus, [Rev 3:12] AND on his people BY Jesus. [Rev 19:13]

To further illustrate that this in not a formal legal name change, look at how he is identified even to the end of the book: Rev 22:16 I "JESUS" [not "logos"] have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Rev 22:21 The grace of our Lord "JESUS" (NOT "LOGOS") Christ be with you all. Amen.

"Logos" has a simple meaning in the Greek, and John did not intend to start the controversy that has arisen over his use of logos in John 1:1-3.

Remember the warning Paul gave to Timothy about Satan providing doctrine? "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to SEDUCING SPIRITS, and doctrines of DEVILS; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats..." [Remember the practices of Catholicism as they forbid their Bishops, Clergy and Nuns to marry, and their practice of "not eating meat on fridays?"] [I Tim 4:1-3]

For approximately two thousand years, Satan has convinced man to rearrange the scriptures to study and exegete and parse and research, according to Satan's chronology, not the Holy Spirit's, who inspired men to write in the order in which He wanted them to understand it.

Paul had already preached the logos of God to the world, it was already understood to reference "Christ in you, the hope of glory" and it was already personified in the saints, had become flesh in those same saints, and dwelled among men, also in those same saints.

So until at least 69 a.d., the saints had no idea of Jesus being named "The word of God" at some future point in time. It was NOT an issue.

Then, when John wrote his epistle in 96 a.d., and began with "in the beginning" he was not referencing the beginning of creation, but the beginning of the gospel. Remember, John had already established the "logos" as a "NEW [unknown, nor used yet] NAME," so the beginning was established by John's own writings. "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God," There was absolutely NO issue of Jesus being the word of God, because it was already understood for over sixty years, that the saints, living so that it was not they who lived, but Christ living in them, was the personification of the word of God, and the word of God was personified in the saints, and dwelled among men. The logos concept was already understood prior to John's gospel.

Sorry Theo, misunderstanding. Busy at work right now, but please see my post late in the "25" thread. I'm going to need to lock this for right now, and we'll talk in a little bit when I'm off this call.